Non-profits and volunteers 'speed date' in hopes of finding a good match

Terry Stelter, foreground, of the Conductive Learning Center, and Michael Demos, a potential volunteer board member, get to know each other during a "speed dating" session sponsored by the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce Center for Community Leadership. Jim Harger | Mlive Media Group

GRAND RAPIDS, MI – Call it speed dating for board members and nonprofits.

On Wednesday, Aug. 14, recent graduates of the Leadership Grand Rapids program sat across from executives of 14 local nonprofit agencies and chatted for five minutes before a bell rang and they moved on to the next table.

The idea was to help the nonprofit agencies find effective board members and help the Leadership alumni find places to serve, according to Kim McLaughlin, director of the Grand Rapids Area Chamber of Commerce’s Center for Community Leadership.

“All of these organizations are looking for board members,” said McLaughlin as she watched the timer on her smart phone at the Grand Rapids Community Foundation’s headquarters.

Likewise, the Leadership program graduates are eager to serve, she said. “We’re just trying to find a way to bring their two worlds together.”

So Michael Demos, a supervisor for DTE Energy’s gas operations, was all ears when he sat across from Terry Stelter, executive director of the Conductive Learning Center, an Aquinas College program aimed at helping kids with motor disorders.

“Believe me, I’ll do my homework,” Demos told Stalter as he gathered up brochures for the Conductive Learning Center at the end of their session.

While Demos was not ready to commit, he said he was impressed by the scope of charitable organizations in the Grand Rapids area after the four-hour training session that led up to the “speed dating” session.

“This is a Grand Rapids I didn’t even know existed,” said Demos, a Kentwood resident who commutes to an office in Mount Pleasant.

Cara Jones, philanthropy director for Hospice of Michigan, found herself sitting alone during one of the early rounds.

With two boards to fill, and a $3.5 million fundraising goal, “we always are looking for board members -- people who are passionate about Hospice,” Jones said.

McLaughlin said the agencies and board prospects are being asked to make a decision on service within four weeks.

Prior to the five-minute meet-and-greet sessions, the participants went through a seminar session in which Matthew Downey, of the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University, explained some of the issues and responsibilities of serving on a board.

One of the sessions, on ethical dilemmas, asked the participants to decide whether their fictional faith-based soup kitchen should risk losing its government funding by requiring attendance at a worship service before the meal is served.

Downey also prepared the group for the fundraising duties they will be called on to perform.